LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday is set to vote on whether to reconsider a land use designation for the Bulgari Hotel project -- a controversial development proposal in Benedict Canyon that has drawn attention from residents, Hollywood celebrities and others.
The motion, introduced by Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, whose 5th District would be the location of the hotel project, requests the director of city planning consider rescinding the initiation of a General Plan amendment for the hotel.
The Department of Planning had approved a process that would give a specific designation to the project, allowing the commercial project be developed in a residential area.
In March, the council's Planning and Land Use Committee deadlocked in a 2-2 vote, with Councilwoman Heather Hutt absent that meeting, on whether support the motion. As a result, no recommendation from the committee will be brought forward on Tuesday when full council will take up the matter.
Yaroslavsky had previously said her motion would put an end to proposed project and that she had been fighting it for years. She also noted that many of her constituents "overwhelmingly" oppose the project, including Mayor Karen Bass and environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.
"...From a land use perspective, allowing an intensive commercial use in a very low density, fire-prone residential area is a terrible idea," Yaroslavsky said.
"Nowhere in Los Angeles are we allowing new commercial uses in low-density hillside communities, specifically because of the wildfire and landslide risks."
The Bulgari Hotel project was introduced in 2018 and would be located at 9704-9712 West Oak Road.
It includes plans for a 59-room hotel and eight single-family homes on an approximately 32.67-acre property, according to the motion.
The hotel portion would include 18 buildings totaling 59 guest rooms, a stand-alone parking structure, funicular railway and a main hotel building including outdoor amenities, commercial space and subterranean parking.
The residential portion of the site would contain eight single-family homes, ranging between 12,000 and 48,000 square feet with associated garage parking.
Gary Safady, the developer, told the Los Angeles Times he was working to contain events on site "as much as possible, making the hotel seem to blend in with the environment."
Safady also said events would be smaller in size than at two nearby hotels -- the Hotel Bel-Air and the Beverly Hills Hotel -- and that any removed trees would be replaced on a 4-to-1 basis.
Celebrities have lined up on both sides of the issue. The Times reported that Mark Wahlberg, Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Gerard Butler were among the neighbors who signed letters in support, while those opposed included Phil McGraw, better known as Dr. Phil, Doors guitarist Robby Krieger and actress Stefanie Powers.
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